The Air that Lacks
by bellakitse
Summary: Set after 'the  darkness you need' Skye encounters Carter at the waterfalls. *2nd installation of the 'beauty and the beast' series.*


Title: The air that lacks

Category: Terra Nova

Ship: Skye/Carter –small mention of Skye/Josh

Genre: Drama/Romance

Rated: PG-13 (for cursing and suggestiveness)

Word Count: 2288

Spoilers: Up to 'Now you see me' I'm going to be ignoring the next episode and the finale for this.

Summary: Set after 'the darkness you need' Skye encounters Carter at the Waterfall.

A/N: So this is 2nd installation to the 'Beauty and the Beast' Series, following the events of 'The darkness you need'. I admit I fell in love with these two while writing that story and now I have this idea of five different one-shots to complete their story.

Thanks to **crystalkei** for the quick beta and the encouragement. And **mercscilla** getting the ball rolling when it comes to these two.

* * *

><p>… … …<p>

She doesn't remember much about the world they left behind, what she does remember is the need for air. Even with the rebreathers you couldn't get enough air, lungs burning from the lack of it. She thinks it's ironic that in this paradise with so much green she still finds it hard to breath. She finds Terra Nova with all the happy people stifling. Her cheeks ache from the fake smile she carries on her face, it feels frozen in place as if she were one of those ancient porcelain dolls only the upper class little girls had back in the future.

She laughs and smiles at all the right moments, when Tasha tells her about her latest conquest, some poor soldier that is going to be put through hell when Lt. Guzman hears he's sleeping with his daughter. Laughing when Max and Hunter do something so ridiculous it can only be worthy of them, when Josh gives her his attention. It feels a bit more real then, when she shares with him and his family over dinner, being charmed by the youngest or sharing a smile with his other sister when Reynolds shows up, looking so besotted with the girl. Still, she knows it's just her playing her part. It isn't her, she hasn't been herself for so long she wouldn't even begin to recognize the real her if she stood in front of her now.

It's suffocating, her lies, her deceit, it's only here on the edge of the bluff, the water roaring as it falls that she can take a deep breath and almost , _almost_ feel like it's enough.

She closes her eyes enjoying the drops of water springing back up from the waterfall, moistening her skin. Working the buttons of her top she lets it fall at her feet. Here, alone, she is almost free.

"What are you doing, Princess?"

Her hands freeze at the zipper of her shorts; she drops her head a bit and laughs a bitter little laugh. _Of course_, it would be _him_. She wants to be alone, not to be reminded if only for a moment of her life and the mess she has made of it, so of course it would be Carter, who finds her.

She turns to face him; he's closer then when he first spoke, only a few feet away from her, watching her with his damn knowing look. His dark eyes rake over her body, slow and tactical, his tongue peeking out to lick his lips. With her top on the ground the only thing covering her upper body is her white and blue bikini top, she resists the urge to reach down and cover up, that would just give him the advantage. He raises an eyebrow silently almost like he knows what she's thinking.

They haven't seen each other since their kiss over two weeks ago, the last time she was at the camp she had managed to avoid him like the plague, dealing directly with his leader. If the woman noticed her extra jumpiness every time someone walked into her hut she had taken pity on her and not commented.

"The waterfall, Skye?" he asks, his tone taunting as always. "A little far from home aren't you? Plus, I hear Daddy Taylor has this place off limits to his people, did you get special permission from papa, where's your pass?"

She shakes her head at his mocking, irritated. "You're such a jackass, Carter."

Her eyes widen taken by surprise when he lets out a deep laugh at her comment, the sound bouncing off the stones, he doesn't seem the least bit bothered by her words.

Letting his laughter trail off he gives her what almost passes for a genuine smile. "Seriously, what are you doing here?"

She shrugs her shoulders as she points down, she isn't about to tell him about her troubled thoughts, he's already proven that he has more insight on her than she would like; she doesn't need to start sharing now. They aren't friends, they aren't _anything_. The fact that she hasn't been able to stop thinking about their kiss, that she's dreamt about it, dreams that have woken her up gasping, her body hot and quivering, pulsing between her thighs until she's been forced to relieve the ache herself, her slender fingers not filling her the way she imagines he would, it means absolutely nothing.

"Skye?"

"What?" she asks startled out of her thoughts, her face hot. She cringes inwardly as he frowns at her, his gaze questioning and penetrating.

"Where did you just go?"

She's imagining the concern she hears, she has to be. "None of your business," she shoots back defensively.

He raises his eyebrows at her, but lets it go. "You're going swimming?"

"Yes."

He nods his head, pointing down. "You realize the water is down there, not here on the bluff right?"

It's her turn to raise an eyebrow that the caution in his voice. "Yes, and I'll be down there in a second."

"In a second," he repeats slowly, trailing off when she reaches for her shorts again, ignoring his gaze on her backside as she pulls them off and takes a step closer to the edge.

"Wait!" he hiss, his hand reaching out. "Are you crazy? You don't just jump the waterfall, Skye."

She looks at him amused as he looks down with trepidation. "I do it all the time, so do some of the others."

He rolls his eyes aggravated. "Then you and whoever else does it are idiots, it's dangerous."

"I got Josh to do it the first day he got here," she taunts, feeling a thrill as he bristles, shooting her a dark look, it shouldn't please her so much that she can get him to react this way with the boy's name.

"Like I said," he bites out. "Idiot."

"Does Mira know her second in command is so cowardly?" she asks rhetorically with a mocking laugh at his expense.

She gasps her laughter dying as he pulls her roughly to him, his hands on her bare waist, his hold angry and possessive. "I _am not_ a coward," he whispers with controlled fury, his face inches away from hers. "And don't use that _boy_ against me, Skye."

"Carter," she breathes his name as the anger leaves his face only to be clouded with something more dangerous. Her hands find their way to his biceps, her nails digging into his skin as his hands move to the small of her back, his fingers play with the edge of her bottoms. She whimpers as his touch leaves her heady, his lips a hair away from hers brush against hers as he breathes hard. "Prove it?"

"What?" he asks confused.

She pushes away from him, running off the bluff before he can stop her. She's in the air with nothing beneath her, screaming and laughing at the rush she feels into those moments before gravity takes over, still, she can hear him yell out a 'fuck' before she hits the water.

She sinks down for a moment, her eyes wide as she takes in the life and color under the crystal blue water before she starts to kick up. She pushes out, throwing her head back as she continues to laugh happily, the blood still roaring in her ears. Looking up she can still make out his shape and even though she can't see his face, she can picture it causing her to giggle.

"So?" she screams happily. "Prove you're not scared, Carter!"

"You're fucking crazy!" he yells back.

"So, you are scared!"

She swims on her back calmly with her eyes closed laughing every once in a while, she can't makes out everything he's saying up there but what she can hear isn't very polite.

She snaps her eyes open, her smooth strokes faltering when she hears a cry from above, looking up she has enough time to move as he comes barreling down.

"Carter?" she calls out after a few seconds pass by and he doesn't re-emerge, looking around her there is nothing but water. "Carter!"

She shrieks, kicking her feet out as a hand circles her ankle, pushing away as he resurfaces in front of her. "Jackass."

He runs a hand through his hair pushing it back as he swims next to her. "You are insane."

"It's fun!" she argues.

He rolls his eyes a small smile playing on his lips. "Maybe"

"It's freeing," she lets out, biting her bottom lip when he turns serious.

"I don't disagree," he says softly, closing the space between them. She notices with a start that he's without his shirt, though she can feel his pants as his leg brushes up against hers. He's built more then she expected for a man living in the jungle, his chest defined and covered with black hair that glistens in the water. He's a man, not like Josh, Hunter or Max who still have that boyish quality about them, not like Reynolds or Dunham who while built like men, instill security. No Carter is man, a dangerous one and for once not in the enemy sense but purely in her reaction to him. She might hate him and maybe even that is up in the air but she definitely dislikes him, that doesn't however seem to be a problem for her body, reacting to his proximity and the way he looks at her now as he pushes her into an alcove.

He presses her against the rock and she shivers at its coldness, closing her eyes she tilts her head as his lips start at the shell of her ear trailing down, her body tight like a coil at his touch. She lets out a moan her hands clutching his hair as he sucks on the pulse point at her throat, his scruff rubbing against her skin. She can feel his hand under the water running down her waist, passed her hips to her thigh, raising it to his own waist he presses himself between her legs. She holds on to him as his other hand holds on to the rock, keeping them afloat.

"God, Carter" she whispers, letting out another moan, she can feel him through his pants, hard against her core, she finds herself drawing a groan pass his lips as she grounds herself against him.

"Skye," he whispers pulling back to look at her, his pupils blown wide.

She pushes the leg he isn't holding on to against the rock trying to get some leverage, she needs to be closer to him, she needs so much more. Trying to rise she lets out a painful whimpers as her calve makes contact with something sharp.

"What is it?" he asks alarmed when she grimaces. "What's wrong?"

She shakes her head, letting out a painful breath. "I don't know, something bit into my leg."

He reaches down examining her leg, pausing at the area that causes her to wince again, pulling his hand out of the water he sees his fingers a lightly stained with blood. "Shit, you got cut by the rock, come on."

She lets him guide her towards the edge, letting out a sound of surprise when he picks her up once they reach a part where they can stand. He handles her weight with ease on the shore. Walking over to a tree, he sits her down under it. "I'm going to go get our stuff from the bluff, I have some things to clean the wound, don't move."

She nods when he waits for her acceptance, rolling her eyes when he gives her one final look, her leg hurts, she's not going anywhere until they stop the bleeding.

He makes it up and down the boulder in record time, holding her clothes in one hand and his backpack in the other, his shirt back on, but opened.

"Okay," he mutters as he sits next to her, looking inside his bag he pulls out a pouch with a clear gel in it. "It's not the fancy spray you're use to in Terra Nova, but this will stop the bleeding and close the wound just as well, no one will even notice you got hurt."

She watches silently as he cleans the wound, his touch gentle and experienced, his face the picture of concentration, she trembles lightly as he applies the gel, it's cold and sticky. She swallows hard as he looks up at her. "I didn't know you could heal."

"I was actually allowed passage to Terra Nova for my medic skills," he answers absently as he finishes. "I was an EMT, lots of 'in the field' knowledge."

"Taylor is under the impression that all the Sixers had their papers falsified to get here," she says quietly, holding her breath as he pauses.

"No, not all of us," he answers just as softly after a moment.

"You could be useful in Terra Nova, Carter," she continues as he helps her rise, testing her leg, it hurts less already. "Why leave with Mira?"

Carter gives her a look that she can't understand. "Why are you helping Mira?"

She narrows her eyes at the question, annoyed at the reminder. "You know why, my mother-"

"We all have mothers, Skye," He counters annoyed too. "We _all _have loved ones to think about."

"I…"

He sighs tiredly shaking his head, placing his arm around her waist he starts to walk with her slowly. "Come on, I'll help you get as close to the gate as I can."

She allows him to guide her in silence, his words echoing in her head, left at a loss she realizes there's so much she doesn't know.


End file.
